Friday, January 4, 2013

Top Five High End Travel Trends for 2013 from Luxury Travel Ltd

Keeping with its annual tradition, Luxury Travel announces its forecast on the travel trends to watch in 2013 in the Vietnam tourism industry.

Hanoi, Vietnam, January 04, 2012 - Keeping with its annual tradition, Luxury Travel (Vietnam’s first luxury tour and travel operator and most successful luxury travel brand) announces its forecast on the travel trends to watch in 2013 in the Vietnam tourism industry.

Multi-Generational Family Travel:
In the current fragile economy, people tend to go back to family values and enjoy holidays together. For them, life is a collection of special moments and family reunions. Geographically, families live farther away from each other than at any time in history, and millions of post 50s travelers are trading briefcases for roller bags. With time, health and disposable income on their hands, they are taking the kids and grandkids along. Luxury Travel (www.luxurytravelvietnam.com) has received more bookings for multi-generational private family vacations.

Wellness and Spa:
Vietnam has followed the lead of Thailand and begun embracing spa culture with a wide selection of resorts and day spas that are the equal of any in the world. Spa vacationers now choose Vietnam for various wellness and spa options, such as the 6 star spa at the Nam Hai, heritage spa at Pilgrimage Village Resort Hue, the all inclusive spas at Fusion Maia Danang, thefamily spa at Six Senses Nha Trang, day spas in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the beach spa at Princess d’Anam or Antara Mui Ne or the destination spas at Emeralda Ninh Binh, Six Sense Con Dao or Life Resort Quy Nhon.

Active Vacations:
Travelers are seeking out ways to stay active and healthy on the road. They want to go to places where they have plenty of options to take day trips and enjoy active excursions from trekking to diving in Vietnam. The thrills offered are endless and span a wide range, including hiking, trekking, biking, kayaking, climbing, rafting, snorkeling, scuba diving, fishing, hot air ballooning, camping, yachting and more. Some of the locations where these activities can be enjoyed include Sapa, Halong Bay, Cu Lao Cham, the Central Highlands, the Mekong Delta, Phan Thiet, Con Dao, the Phu Quoc Islands and many more.

Bespoke Itineraries With a Sense of Place:
It is all about the experience and a storytelling. Travel should be personalized and luxury travel advisors are learning to blend experiences that are tailored to personal desires along with truly special options that reflect the destination. Luxury travel is no longer just about fine dining and five-star hotels. With so many new experiences on offer, it’s the stories travellers can tell afterwards that confer status.

Seeking Out What’s Next & New:
High-end travelers always want new and exotic experiences, plus value, both in terms of personal value and value for money. They seek new destinations, roads less travelled, new hotels and new experiences. They want to be the first to discover a destination. Many have moved towards a quieter understated luxury and plan their trips with a focus on authenticity and experiential travel, focused on enriching once-in-a-lifetime experiences. For travel experts, it is essentially about creating a package that is personal as well as authentic and memorable.

Pham Ha is a CEO and founder of Luxury Travel Ltd (www.luxurytravel.com.vn), the first luxury tour operator in Indochina. Pham Ha is also a travel guru, tourism speaker, writer, consultant and a leading designer of luxury tourism industry training programs.

Contact:
Linh Doan
Luxury Travel Ltd
05 Nguyen Truong To Str.,
Ba Dinh Dist, Hanoi 84444
Vietnam
84439274120
marketing12@luxurytravelvietnam.com
http://www.LuxuryTravelVietnam.com

Now could be a 'Great time' to increase Gold exposure – AAA

The fact that gold prices have fallen off slightly in the past month should not put off alternative investors, claims AAA. Instead, now could be a great time to buy up gold before prices rise once more.

Boston, MA, January 04, 2013 - The fact that gold prices have fallen off slightly in the past month should not put off alternative investors, claims Alternative Asset Analysis (AAA). Instead, now could be a great time to buy up gold before prices rise once more.

The price of gold dropped to a low of less than $1,670 per ounce, from around $1,750 an ounce a month ago, according to the latest figures. The drop was attributed largely to two large sell-offs of gold reserves and this has got tongues wagging about the possible reasons for the sell-offs.

“With prices a bit lower than they have been of late and long-term fundamentals for the precious metals still strong, now is a great time to take advantage of the bargain price and add gold to your portfolio” stated AAA’s analysis partner, Anthony Johnson.

Investors who have no gold exposure at the moment can benefit from the popularity of gold as a result of ongoing volatility in the stock markets, low confidence in paper money and low interest rates. All these factors add up to a good outlook for this alternative investment, and for alternative investments in general, claims AAA.

In terms of the allocation for gold or silver investments, around 5 per cent has long been the recommended level of exposure. AAA claims that although gold is a good bet, other asset classes, such as forestry can help investors to generate returns from actual growth of an asset, rather than the faith-based returns one hopes for when investing in precious metals.

“Investing in an asset like timberland is great because you can actually watch your asset physically grow,” added Mr Johnson.

“Forestry investment is truly flexible – If the market isn’t looking too hot when you come to sell your timber, just leave it growing for a little longer until prices improve.”

Contact:
Anthony Johnson
Alternative Asset Analysis
71 Commercial St
Boston, MA 02109-1320
617-939-9596
info@alternativeassetanalysis.com
http://www.alternativeassetanalysis.com